Spring 2003 SEAmester East Journal
Sent weekly from sea by students on-board SEAmester ...
SEAmester Log, Part 5
St. Mary's, GA
April 14, 2003
Well, it has been a long time since anyone has heard from us. We are doing
GREAT!!! Everyone sends their love.
The last you heard was about the voodoo ceremony. And much has happened
since then.
Saturday, March 29 Lat. 18º13.5’N long. 72º32.3’W. We woke up at our
usual seven to commence our morning chores. Katie and I were sent to the
post office for the ships mailings. The postage was about thirty gourde.
This is equivalent to about seven cents in US money.
After the wonderful adventure to the post office, which was difficult
because I do not speak french or Creole, Katie and I met up with our group
in the open market. Our mission for the day was to buy provisions for the
ship. Most of us could not think beyond buying for more than two people let
alone thirty. We also had to buy enough food for at least two weeks or more.
My watch, the B watch, was in charge of purchasing a chicken. We were lucky
in the fact that Lauriel’s friend Ryan from the peace corps was there to
help pick a good chicken. It was still alive! We paid the woman to kill and
pluck it for us. She had no problem slicing its throat and depluming its
body. Some people were a little squeamish, but not me. This was until we got
back to the boat an hour later and Jodi, our wonderful cook, served chicken
legs for lunch. I had a difficult time not thinking about our dead chicken
after that. Other groups brought back massive amounts of mangos, grape
fruit, oranges, and bananas.
Later that evening, we met with a group of Haitian high school students. We
had a great discussion about the US war in Iraq. They knew more about the war
than we did at that point. I never realized how much our actions affect
other countries. I was actually not having a great feeling about Haiti until
I had a chance to talk to these students. They were full of spirit and well
educated. I exchanged my email address with several of them and hope to hear
from them when I have a chance to get back onto the internet.
The following day, Julia, Natalie, and I went to a Haitian Catholic mass.
Actually we had to make a few attempts to get to church. We were anchored a
couple hundred yards away from the dock, so we had to take Gordita, a hard
bottom inflatable with an outboard motor, to get to land. In the middle of
the boat ride, the engine died. We had to row the boat back to the Spirit in
our church going clothes. Franco, the ship’s engineer, rescued us by
dropping ArminE into the water to get us to church. Mass started at seven in
the morning and lasted until nine. I’m not sure why, but the Haitians had to
have a pass or a slip of paper that was stamped to enter the church. The
mass was much more lively than any American mass that I have ever attended.
They had a band and a large children’s choir. The three of us could not
understand much or any of the ceremony, because they speak Creole. This is
very similar to French. The children had on their uniforms, the women were
wearing semi-formal dresses, and men were wearing dress pants and nice
shirts. Even though the general population of the US has more money, most
Haitians take more pride in their clothing and what they wear.
We left shortly after church was over. We set sail and thought we were
headed back to the grand USA. We were definitely mistaken. We had to hide out
in a small bay, because a cold front with northwest winds were on its way.
Our direction was northwest so we would not have gone very far. The plus
side was that we watched two Horatio Hornblower movies that night on deck
under the bright stars. The following day, March 31, we were still hiding.
We then had the pleasure of watching two more movies, both educational.
During these two days we had a mass of curious Haitians canoeing out to our
boat. After a while they started bringing things for us to buy. We bought
chairs and tons of fruit. We actually had to move again on the morning of
April 1st. This was because we were dragging anchor and were about to run
aground on a little sand bar. We watched White Squall that night. April 2nd,
we set sail and not a minute too soon. The crew was getting antsy to get
sailing again.
April 3rd we finally left Haiti, and this time for good. Ahead of us laid
the Atlantic Ocean and the United States of America. Everyone was excited
that we were underway and of what this long passage would hold. During this
passage we had a change of watch officers for a fresh new look at how things
work on board. During this passage we had two days where we traveled over
200 nautical miles, one day traveling 202nautical miles and the next
276nautical miles. Bucket baths were not allowed for these days for we were
going too fast. We also had our first real squall in passage. It was nothing
severe, just a whole lot of rain that brought us down to minimal sail.
Through it all we passed through the Windward Passage, the Old Bahama
Channel, and into the Gulf Stream. We saw our last glimpse of the southern
cross. Many people were saddened to see their favorite constellations set
for the final time.
We arrived in the United States on April 10th, setting anchor in Florida at
0140. After clearing customs, we moved onward to St. Mary’s Georgia.
Everyone was excited to get back into the states and get a taste of all the
things they were deprived of since the trip began. It was also made a point
to go to the Salvation Army and Goodwill in hopes of purchasing more warm
clothing for the remainder of the trip. This was instigated by the fact that
once we arrived in the waters off of Florida, so did a cold front and we
went from the usual 90-100º days to it being in the 40s. All the people here
in St. Mary’s are beyond friendly. The first day here a group of us were
walking back to the boat and a woman (Angie) asked us if we wanted a ride to
where we were going. After we started talking we found out that last
semester she had brought a group of seamester students to the Salvation Army
to get costumes for Halloween and loved when we were here. While here we had
the first full provisioning of the boat. Three of us and the cook spent four
hours at the grocery store and by the end of it all (12 carts later) we
became what seemed like the center of attention at the store. At the same
time students were getting their first real cleaning, both clothing and them
selves. The Laundromat was inundated by our crew for the entire day and
students used the hot freshwater shower in hopes of cleaning away the weeks
of salt from clothes and body.
-Nicole Boucha and Corrin Flora
Scenes from the Return of the Spring SEAmester 2003
Log 4: Lisa and Sara
Log 3: Shaun Knight
Log 2: Nancy Arbuckle
Log 1: Matt and Julia
Prof. Hamilton's Journal Archive
Fall 2002
Spring 2002
Fall 2001
Spring 2001
Fall 2000
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